County Reviewing Proposals For Retirement Center

September 11, 1985|The Morning Call

Lehigh County administrators have received four financial feasibility proposals and six architectural- engineering proposals for Cedar Village, a "cooperative care community" of apartments for the elderly.

The project is scheduled to bebuilt near Cedarbrook, the county home for the aged and convalescent.

The proposals are being reviewed and interviews with the applicant- companies will be conducted soon.

If everything goes according to plan, the county may seek construction bids for Cedar Village by June 1986, James Creedon, county planning director, said yesterday.

Earlier, the project was targeted for bidding this fall, and the start of construction in the spring of 1986.

The architectural-engineering proposals deal with the design and production of "biddable documents" for Cedar Village through the development of "good hard cost" details, site layout and other construction plans, the county planner explained.

Creedon explained yesterday the financial feasibility proposals relate to reviews of the financial planning details for $6.8-million project which are based in part on certain assumptions.

The county planner said the review could be done by certified public accountants to pave the way for actual financing of the project.

The county is seeking state and federal grants. No architectural- engineering or financial feasibility study contracts will be signed until the grants have been approved, Creedon stated.

He said county administrators have also written to more than 30 private foundations - corporate, family and other types - explaining the Cedar Village concept and "asking for seed money."

Creedon said there have been five negative responses and no positive ones.

The negatives indicate they have no funding for projects such as Cedar Village, he said.

The lack of additional responses to date could mean the idea is being viewed favorably by others, he added.

The project is aimed at the elderly who live alone and whose annual income is in the $15,000 to $30,000 range.

They would share in the development and ownership of the retirement community while living with friends and neighbors of like interests, all at affordable rates and with some cost-free use of county personal care facilities.

Project tenants would invest about $28,000 and pay about $450 a month for rent, insurance and utilities.

An estimated $8,000 to $10,000 of the investment would go into a trust fund to provide personal care without cost for three to six months and the rest would go for project construction.

If a tenant dies or leaves, the investment would be returned to the tenant or his or her estate "without amortization."

Cedar Village would consist of a maximum of 20 apartment buildings with eight apartments in each.

The concept is to join nonprofit private groups and public entities in bridging a so-called housing gap for the elderly, that is, targeting those who can't obtain housing either because their income is too great or too little.